At a time when the country is grappling with a rising burden of cancer and heart and kidney diseases, a major government project aimed at decentralising specialised treatment facilities beyond Dhaka remains incomplete even after seven years.

In Bangladesh, cardiovascular disease treatment is predominantly Dhaka centric and is prohibitively expensive. Patients have to either come to the capital or remain untreated, said experts.

Seventy-year-old Abul Khaer, a resident of Nabinagar in Brahmanbaria, felt chest pain at midnight recently. His family waited till morning before taking him to a private hospital in Homna upazila of Cumilla, a two-hour drive from their home.